Gen Z comes to the job market with high expectations, a strong need for meaning and flexibility, but also with unprecedented insecurities. She grew up in an environment of digital speed and volatility, entered the workplace in the midst of a pandemic, and is challenged to stand in an ever-changing landscape. Although technologically proficient, he often lacks experience, guidance and organizational integration while seeking workplace well-being, balance and purpose. In this context, “accelerating adaptability”-the ability to Customize and to resilience constantly - it is emerging as the most important skill of this generation. And that is where the role of Career Counselling begins: to turn uncertainty into orientation and transition into a developmental path.
Generation Z brings with it a new way of understanding work: more experiential, more personalised, more demanding in terms of «why» than «what». Young professionals are not just looking for a role; they are looking for a role. a place where their personal meaning meets their professional purpose. This is exactly where the role of Career Counselling begins.
The career coach no longer acts as a “guide to choices”, but as a co-creator of the course. Together with the new professional, he or she maps values, motivations and personal happiness points, so that the professional choice acquires internal coherence. «Why do I work?» is the first question - and perhaps the most difficult - to a generation that has learned to live in over-information, but often ignores how to filter the essential from the noisy.
Here comes the second critical task of the Advisor: strengthening 21st century skills. The coach does not just suggest “learning something new”, but cultivates the skill of how I learn to learn. The market is changing faster than ever, and adaptability is no longer a nice feature of a CV; it is the basis of professional resilience. Through targeted development programmes, the professional learns to acquire not only digital fluency, but also social intelligence, learning strategy and communication confidence - those skills that cannot be automated.
For Gen Z, entering the labour market is not a straight line, but a grid of possible paths. The career coach takes on the task of organize this transition: to turn it from a leap in the dark into a well-planned course. Through internships, side-projects or mentoring, it helps the young professional to become aware of the way the market works, to discover its rhythm, to experiment without getting lost. “Pilot thinking” - the logic of the small test before the big commitment - is perhaps the most useful tool in this process.
In this context, the family is not uninvolved. Gen Z parents still play a strong role in their children's decisions - sometimes supportive, sometimes stressful. The coach, especially when working with teens, is called upon to build bridges: to bring parents into the conversation, to turn pressure into collaboration, and to form a shared vision. A child who feels listened to and not forced to lead learns to make decisions responsibly - not with fear.
Another, and perhaps more essential, dimension of counselling is the resilience farming. The coach does not promise a smooth road; he prepares for the twists and turns. It teaches professionals to ask questions such as: «What do I do if I need to change course?», «How do I deal with rejection or failure?». Through experiential approaches, she helps the young person develop a development mindset - to see change not as a punishment, but as the next opportunity.
In practice, this process is liberating. The practitioner begins to set goals with more self-awareness: asking questions that open up paths, not looking for ready-made answers. He discovers that the professional path is not linear, but rather lively & dynamic: full of trials, errors, corrections, lessons. Learning to use error as information and not as defeat.
For Gen Z, this approach is almost comforting. Rather than getting caught up in the need for «stability» - a concept that the market itself deconstructs - they are learning to build stability in change. And that, after all, is the essence of professional resilience.
The job of the career coach, then, is not just to “help the young person find a job”. It is to teach him to navigate a world where jobs will change form over and over again. To provide him with the tools to redefine his direction without losing his compass. To show him how he can combine vision and realism - that is, to dream but strategically.
Generation Z is not «just another generation to understand». It is the mirror of the future of work, and Career Counselling is the field where that future begins to take shape. With professional guidance, empathy, and meaningful collaboration, Gen Z can evolve into the generation that is not afraid of change, but leads it.
And that, in the end, is the bet for all of us.
Sources
Racolța-Paina, Nicoleta & Irini, Radu. (2021). generation Z in the Workplace through the Lenses of Human Resource Professionals - A Qualitative Study.Quality - Access to Success. 22. 78-85.
https://www.adecco.com/en-us/employers/resources/article/breaking-gen-z-stereotypes
https://www.adecco.com/en-us/employers/resources/article/generation-z-vs-millennials-infographic
https://www.adecco.com/en-us/employers/resources/article/purpose-driven-careers
https://www.manpowergroup.com/en/insights/report/world-of-work-for-generation-z-in-2025
